


Salmon Pink

by gettingaphdinlarry



Series: To Give You a Hand to Hold: Doc and Monster [6]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Cabins, Lakes, Love, M/M, Minnesota, Summer, Wishes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-05-21
Packaged: 2019-05-09 16:06:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14719278
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gettingaphdinlarry/pseuds/gettingaphdinlarry
Summary: “For all the times we had to get up before dawn, I can count on one hand the number of sunrises I got to enjoy,” Louis said.“It was always work.” Harry yawned and rested his head on Louis’ shoulder. “Although I got to see some lovely ones at sea.”Louis swept his arm out in front of them. “From sea to lake… Do you miss it?”“I’m glad I did it.” Harry was quiet for a long time before he spoke again. “And I’m glad I left. Even if it was hard.”“Me, too.”::Louis and Harry start their summer up north with a quiet week together on the lake.





	Salmon Pink

“You’re not allergic to stings, right?” Harry soaped up Louis’ arm.

Louis shook his head. “No, don’t think so. I’ve only been stung twice before, when I was a kid.”

“You’re lucky only one wasp got you.”

“I know. Terrible start to the week...”

Niall had been more than happy to give Louis the keys to his family’s cabin, claiming he wouldn’t be able to use it until later in the summer, and saying someone should get up there since warm weather had finally arrived. Even though Louis had finished his first year as a teacher and his classroom was locked until fall, he felt like he wasn’t done. He hadn’t realized that his after-dinner grading sessions had become such a dreaded routine; even though he had nothing to grade, he could feel tension in his neck and shoulders through dessert.

Louis needed a new kitchen to sit in. He also needed the fresh air that the cabin provided.

What he didn’t need was the huge wasp’s nest he’d stumbled across at the corner of the house.

“I could do this, you know.” Louis looked at the red welt on his arm.

“This was my job,” Harry said, pouring cool water over the sting.

“Your job was a _bit_ harder than this.”

“A bit.” Harry smiled and rummaged through the medicine cabinet. He put a box of Band-Aids on the edge of the sink and held up a tube of antibiotic cream. “Look what I found!” He swiped the tube against his shorts to get the dust off and unscrewed the cap. He chuckled and said, “I’m not even gonna check the expiration date. I’ll just,” Harry dabbed on the medicine, “use twice as much.”

“Does that work?”

“Sure,” Harry said with a grin and a shrug.

“We’ve gotta destroy that nest. Think there’s some spray around here?”

“If there isn’t, the gas station in town will probably have some.” Harry put a round Band-Aid on the sting and kissed it. “All better, Monster.”

Louis rolled his sleeve down and kissed Harry. “Thanks, Doc.”

:::

Louis and Harry knelt in the long grass skirting the lake. Across the shore, dark trees touched the starry ink-blue sky.

Harry leaned toward the lantern light. “So I write my wish on the bottom?”

“Any side, really.” Louis handed Harry the pencil and cradled his own piece of birch bark in his hands. “And it’s a secret.”

“Right.” The pencil scratched over the soft, papery wood. Louis had gathered the biggest birch pieces he could find, then let Harry choose the one he wanted to use for his wishboat. Harry had turned the piece over in his hands and stroked the pale pink heart of the wood. He said it felt right. “OK, I’m done.”

Louis fumbled with the matches, and then sulfur scented the air. Harry touched his birthday candle to the match head and dripped wax over his bark, then stuck the candle in place. He helped Louis do the same.

“Make your wish,” Louis whispered, hands shaking in the darkness.

“Ready.”

“Get as close as you can, don’t want them to tip over… and… let go.”

One after the other, the boats fell gently into the water. They bobbed and floated away. For a moment, Louis was afraid they might get caught in some cattail reeds, but a soft breeze came up and the boats started drifting toward the center of the lake. Their dim light danced on the lake’s surface.

Louis sat down, not caring that his bottom was going to get muddy. He knew they had time. On a cake, the candles never seemed to last very long; on tiny birch boats, they seemed to burn forever. He’d learned that as a kid, summer after summer.

Harry sat back on his heels, turned off the lantern, and took Louis’ hand. “There are so many stars,” he said. Louis waited for his eyes to adjust to the night, so he could see the Milky Way. The purples and blues made a beautiful gash across the sky.

Louis squeezed Harry’s hand and kissed his cheek. The buzzing and chirping around them blended with a frog’s deep, long croaks. The water lapping against the shore was a constant rhythm, and Louis’ breathing fell into the same pattern. One, two, in— _splish_ —three, four, out— _splosh_. Louis hadn’t counted his breaths in a long time.

He hadn’t needed to, he realized.

The air picked up for a moment and the candles flickered and flared high for a burst. Louis held his breath, hoping everything would go right. The flames returned to normal and crept down the candles again.

Louis exhaled carefully. It would happen soon. The wood was dry enough, he was sure.

“Watch...” Louis whispered.

Harry’s boat caught fire first. The flame seemed to go out, then the fire grew high. Harry gasped and tugged at Louis’ hand. “Look!”

“I see, I see,” Louis said, laughing. His boat caught fire next.

The two men watched as the flames consumed their boats, and the fires turned low, hugging the surfaces of the wood. The glowing orange reflections spread across the water, smoke trailing above them.

They sat in silence, watching the flames become smoldering golden embers before the lake swallowed each fire with a sizzling hiss.

The light scent of smoke dissipated and Harry’s voice broke the darkness. “That means our wishes will come true.”

:::

“Been a long time since we’ve gotten up this early.” Harry sat down cross-legged on the weather-worn dock on the lake. “‘Monster,’ indeed.”

“Been out of the service too long, Styles.” Louis shook out the blanket he’d brought from the house, letting it settle around them.

“At least you’re not barking at me to,” Harry lowered his voice and knocked his shoulder against Louis’, “‘Hustle, hustle, hustle!’”

Louis laughed. “For all the times we had to get up before dawn, I can count on one hand the number of sunrises I got to enjoy.”

“It was always work.” Harry yawned and rested his head on Louis’ shoulder. “Although I got to see some lovely ones at sea.”

Louis swept his arm out in front of them. “From sea to lake… Do you miss it?”

“I’m glad I did it.” Harry was quiet for a long time before he spoke again. “And I’m glad I left. Even if it was hard.”

“Me, too.” Louis nodded, kissed Harry and tucked the blanket in more tightly around them.

Louis’ thoughts returned to the day before. The overcast and breezy weather had been perfect for an afternoon hike, a loop about nine miles long. Near the end of their hike, they’d found a huge patch of wild blueberry bushes. After finding no recent signs of bear activity, they started feasting on the dusky purple berries. Harry finished off the water in his wide-necked Nalgene bottle and dropped some berries in the container, saying, “Let’s take some home. Do you still have those Ziploc bags in your pack?”

Of course he did, he always did. So they filled a bag, and then another, until four gallons later their hands were covered in blue and purple stains. They finished their hike, planning to make blueberry cobbler to go with the steaks they were going to cook on the grill.

When it started raining on their way home, their plans changed. Dinner became a simple meal made up of a bagged Caesar salad and a take-and-bake pizza from the sole grocer in town, with blueberries and whipped cream for dessert.

After dinner they took turns showering away the sweat and the grime of the day, and Louis opened the windows so they could hear the rain. Then they climbed into bed, hike-sore and exhausted. Louis curled around Harry’s back, and kissed the side of his neck, rubbing his stubbly chin against Harry’s shoulder.

“I’m tired,” Harry said, turning his head and smiling.

“I know, me too.”

So he and Harry made love. It was a quiet affair, with practiced familiarity.

The cabin was not their home and the bed was not their own, but the predictable pleasure in their movements felt like a homecoming. The way their bodies answered each other in shifts and sighs— _right there_ —that’s what he expected, and craved. It all came with a close intimacy that Louis cherished. It comforted him, the ease of it.

And when they were done, and Harry pulled the covers over them both and fell asleep, Louis thought, _I love you._

While Harry was in a deep, sated slumber, Louis listened to the loons warbling in the distance, their mating calls a song in the night. _I love you._

He drifted in and out of sleep, and when he saw the faintest glow on the horizon, he rolled over, kissed Harry’s cheek and said, “I love you.”

Harry had nodded and mumbled ‘I love you too’ and a few minutes later Louis had prodded him out of bed with promises he’d make blueberry pancakes for breakfast, after the sun was up, if Harry would come outside with him.

The dock was cool and damp, with bits of green moss clinging to its edges. In front of them, curls of mist lifted from the lake, making what little light was starting to peek through the trees diffuse in a soft glow.

Harry shivered and Louis drew him closer. “Do you need another blanket? I can run and grab one.”

“No, I’m good. Did you sleep OK?”

“The loons kept me up.”

As if on cue, a tremolo echoed around them. _Hoo-wooh-roo-roo-roo._

Harry laughed and said, “They heard you.”

Louis closed his eyes and felt the tingle run down his spine. He wished they lived up here, just for the summer. Just for this. He wanted to have this year after year.

He wondered how long the dawn would last, how long he could stretch this moment out before the mist was burned off the lake, before the soft aroma of sun-warmed sand overcame the lingering scent of rain and dew.

The loons grew quiet and water sloshed against the shore, making the lilies and duckweed rock back and forth. A dragonfly rested near Harry’s knee, unafraid. A fisherman dropped bait, pulled on his line.

The sky turned salmon pink.

Louis’ heart thumped and he cleared his throat. His fingers smoothed over the ring box in his pocket. “Doc… I have a question.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to every single reader who has read any part of Doc and Monster's story. I love these men, and I'm so happy other people care about these characters as much as I do. I often think about how characters come to tell me their stories, and I'm so glad these two decided to share the end of their story with me. 
> 
> As always, thank you to my betas: @[louandhazaf](http://louandhazaf.tumblr.com), thanks for keeping the secret; @[myownsparknow](https://myownsparknow.tumblr.com), thanks for reacting exactly like I hoped you would. You both make me a better writer. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
> 
> Come say hi on [Tumblr](http://gettingaphdinlarry.tumblr.com/post/174115353586/salmon-pink-1735-words-by-gettingaphdinlarry).


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